You implied that there was no science fiction on Australian TV, but of course that's not true. In fact, Australia is one of the world's richest markets for science fiction/fantasy aimed specifically at kids. Among the most successful producers is Jonathan M. Shiff, who is to this genre what Steven J. Cannell is to American mystery television. He's had nine successful programs since the 1990s, some of which have been seen in the US on Disney/ABC Family. His longest-lived, I believe, is a fantastic show called Ocean Girl, a near-future story involving deep ecology concepts, spearheaded by a mysterious alien girl and an ocean research laboratory. Like Doctor Who, it involves 30 minute episodes that usually end in cliffhangers. It starts slowly, but by the second season, it picks up real steam, fairly demanding that the interested viewer watches every episode. Other Schiff shows include Cybergirl (a kind of Bionic Woman redux), H20 - Just Add Water (90210 with mermaids), and The Elephant Princess. YouTube has a ton of fanmade videos based on all these properties, further indicating their popularity.

Of course Schiff isn't the only provider of such content; his success has naturally spawned competitors. Escape from Jupiter/Return to Jupiter is a popular example of a non-Schiff-produced Australian SF kids show. It never made it to the US, but it did go through to the BBC. So it's no surprise to me that K9 is going down under, because it's the one part of the English-speaking world where there's a thriving appetite for genre kids television. Indeed, the Australian executives on K9 all cut their teeth on Australian kids' TV.

As to why K9 might be set in the UK, don't forget that not only the creator and one of the production partners are British. Park Entertainment, a British company, has been attached to the project for a long period of time, and they cite their role as "developers" and international sales agents/distributors of the project. In a real sense, this is a British-Australian co-production. So, I'm less disturbed by the fact that it's set in London, than that it's set on Earth; it was originally to be set in space in the far future.

Of coure there may be Australian made science fiction television, but it is well-guarded secret here. At least I have never seen it exported and seen here in the States. That may not be the failing of the producers of such content, but that of the US marketplace. Like much of American television media, it is very self-centered and focused on the U.S.

I wouldn't categorize it as "well-guarded", so much as aimed at a different market than the one to which many of us on this board may be interested. Both Ocean Girl and H20 broadcast on Disney/ABC Family/Nick. These are channels I'd venture to say most of us don't watch. The situation with Australian kids SF has some commonality with that of Doctor Who for the vast American public. Airing something on PBS/SciFi/BBC America is effectively pushing DW to the dank corner of the American television dungeon.

These Schiff Australian shows are, by comparison, in a guest room that occasionally gets some visitors. The more mainstream American entertainment press did, in fact, take notice of Ocean Girl in the 1990s, as evidenced by an Entertainment Weekly review, which gave the show a B+ for its initial season. (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,303897,00.html) H20, meanwhile, is broadcast in the US (http://www.nick.com/shows/h2o) and UK on Nickelodeon, and won the UK Nick's award for best TV show last year. (it's naturally swept all Australian awards as well, including the more prestigious Logies/Australian Emmies.)

So Australian kids SF is indeed out there. Unlike DW back in the day, though, it's not on obscure PBS stations. It's on fully national networks, which receive a great deal of attention by the age groups for which the dramas are intended. In many ways, Australian kids SF is better-positioned in the American market than DW ever was when we were kids. Now that DW has been reduced to BBCA, further seasons of H20, if they come, will definitely be available to more Americans than DW.

The one advantage that DW retains over Australian shows is the home video market and an organized, "adult" fandom. The fandom acts like a glue, providing tons and tons of material that leaves a visible trail. And thus the buyers for video stores follow that trail, becoming convinced of the profitability of retaining DW on their shelves. And the generally older fans of DW have the disposable income to make that a reasonable game plan. So you can walk into any Best Buy and pick up DW DVDs. It's harder to find DVDs for the Schiff shows Stateside, largely because the primary viewers of Schiff-stuff are just at the wrong age to make it happen. Too old to get DVDs bought for them to shut them up in front of the TV and too young to have disposable income of their own, the typical audience of Schiff-stuff just doens't have the leverage to make the DVDs appear on the shelves — especially since the profits from the sales would be divided up amongst several sources. So DW clearly wins this battle, even though Schiff-stuff hands-down wins the American broadcast battle.

The fact of the matter is that the BBC have no idea, really, how to make a kids SF show that will work in America — though, to be fair that's not their mandate — whereas the Australians definitely do. And the result? Ultimately, K9 will get more broadcast viewers in the US than Doctor Who, but DW will continue to enjoy better success on the DVD market.

Can I just point out something about CBBC. Children's BBC (as it used to be known!) basically 'take over' BBC1 every weekday from about 3.30-5.30 showing children's programmes. So when the BBC say that the SJA will be on CBBC, they mean it'll be on BBC1, unless its specifically stated as being on the CBBC channel, which is where you probably got confused.